


Hope

by Aarashi



Category: One Piece
Genre: Drinking, Fluff, Food, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Hope, Light Angst, Nakamaship, Party, Post-Wano Arc (One Piece), Post-Whole Cake Island, Spoilers, Wano Country (One Piece), Warm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 22:44:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20379352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aarashi/pseuds/Aarashi
Summary: “It’s good to see everyone celebrating.” (...)That was hope for him. He raised his gaze and obliged himself to look at the party, at his crew, at the warm and bright colors of the night. And he just reminded himself that he wanted to be there, as Zoro’s answer came, as simple and sincere as his own:“Yeah. It is.”





	Hope

**Author's Note:**

> So basically... I wanted to write something about a banquet after all the Wano stuff ended well (hopefully) and somehow I ended up writing about Sanji dealing with, well, how it is for him to be with everyone again. There are some minor spoilers about Wano, but most of it is just about the setting. Hope you enjoy! (and sorry for the possible mistakes)

The fire, the music, the sweet scent of food and the cheerful laughs that could be heard all across town made the night feel warmer.

Sanji had nearly forgotten how it was to be in a feast. Ridiculous amounts of food and drinks set all over the place, instruments played with more or less mastery, the clash of cups as they were pushed one into others in shouted toasts. He himself raised his glass when he heard another proposal and drank, although he wasn’t even sure what he was toasting about. He smiled and shook his head slightly before letting the emptied cup on a table and walking away.

The noise fade a bit once he had distanced from the main table. After about three hours of eating with his crew (and specially the last one putting up with Luffy, Usopp and Chopper’s deafening petitions to Brook) he needed a rest. He put his hands into his pockets while he walked, his look wandering around. The remains of twenty years of misery still showed in Leftovers Town, though that night they could go unnoticed. The villagers had lightened red lanterns and hung them all along the main street, and together with the bonfire created a warm ambient. The food was no longer a problem. But what struck Sanji the most was the people.

It had been a while since Sanji had seen so many people celebrating together (he definitely didn’t count the wedding, because, well, it wasn’t like most of them were actually celebrating anything) and, in general, being happy. In other words, it had been a while since the Straw Hats had had a proper banquet. Sanji had heard from the others that they had had a pretty good one when they had left Dressrossa, similar to how he and his group had had one in Zou, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t the same feeling if they weren’t altogether. And now that he could see them all (each one of them, smiling, laughing, safe), he realized it had been a while since they had actually been together. Just hanging around.

Sanji stopped when he reached the end of the main street and stood there, at the top of the little slope. He took one of his hands out to search for his lighter and his cigarettes and put one in his mouth. He watched at the crowd, a little smile coming to his lips at the sight of his crew dispersed, but still together. It almost felt weird now, after all that time split and running and not having a moment to breathe. It had been like that since they had reached Wano: a succession of fights and escapes, of brief reunions and plans that always ended up with them fighting and escaping and finally reuniting, so they could start again. They had met and they had parted, once and again, switching from one place to another, until the night came and they had flowed like one, no matter which direction they came from. Because even if they faced different individuals from different spots and they weren’t able to see each other in the darkness of the night and the brightness of the battle, even if they were alone in their pursue of success, they always flowed together, because that was what blood did: flowed through different veins, reached different spots, until they met and they mixed and they were all one.

Because they all fought under the same flag.

At the light of the red lanterns, Sanji realized that one of the figures he had been watching was now walking away from the crowd, and soon passing by his side.

“Run out of sake already?”

Zoro stopped and turned around, as slightly surprised, but immediately focused when he saw the source of the voice. He held his cup for all response.

“Oh.” Sanji raised his eyebrows at the sight of the nearly full glass. “Don’t even know why I bother asking.”

Zoro looked at him for a moment, as deciding if he had to answer that, or get angry at that, or whatever. He finally shrugged.

“They had pretty good drink in this place." 

“Hum…” Sanji acknowledged that with a little nod. “Pretty good food, too.”

_At least now that they can take _real _food, _he thought. But he forced himself to let that aside, because the memory of the contaminated food still made his blood boil.

The swordsman shrugged again and took a good gulp, before letting a sigh of pleasure. Sanji kept still; then he moved his shoulders backward and caressed the front of his shirt, distractedly, as he wondered what that strange feeling of warm came from. It was nearly like he was living a quite cherished moment for second time, although he wasn’t sure what that moment was.

Maybe the change in his body caught the attention of the swordsman, because Zoro gave him a sidelong look, before saying:

“They made quite a big feast.”

Sanji’s eyes narrowed slightly. He let his look wander along the road where they had set plenty of tables, chairs, carts.

“I think they still share too much,” he said, in a low voice.

It wasn’t as the food was going to be wasted (he knew of some rubber idiot who definitely wasn’t going to let that happen), but the vision of all the groceries and the effort the people of the village had put to make that banquet, after so many years of starving, made him kind of uncomfortable. Especially when they insisted so much on sharing that food with them.

“Well,” Zoro said, in a light tone. “Now that Kaido’s gone, they won’t have trouble finding food anymore. Besides… I think it’s good for them. To have a reason to celebrate, after all this time.”

In that, Sanji had to agree.

“I guess.”

A group of children passed by their side, some of them holding pieces of desserts. They were running and laughing, their looks full of joy. Sanji couldn’t help a smile.

_It feels good._

Zoro let out a sigh and sat on a large rock, next to a tree at the top of the slope. A string of lanterns hung from its branches. Sanji joined him after a while, not looking at him but either giving his back; their shoulders almost aligned as they watched the main road of the town.

Sanji didn’t get surprised when he discovered what he was watching at, or the fact that he had each and every one of them located: Luffy, eating again on the main table; Usopp, standing in front of a group of children, telling fantastic stories; Brook, playing a cheerful song; Franky and Chopper, dancing around, while Jinbe watched them with amusement; Nami and Robin, laughing with other villagers. Sanji felt it again, stronger this time. It nearly took away his breathing, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

And he understood where that warm, as someone was sighing directly onto his chest, was coming from.

“It’s good to see everyone celebrating.”

The words left his throat empty, and as soon as they got lost in the night, Sanji couldn’t contain a short breath out of his mouth. That cool feeling spread through his body, reaching his chest, his stomach, his lungs. He waited, his heart pounding slow but strong, becoming more and more aware of his beating. He didn’t move. Zoro did not, either.

Sanji stayed still, even though that known urge was already running through his veins, shouting him to move, to run, to do something. He stayed still. He focused. The warm had cooled a bit, not entirely but enough to make him alert, afraid of losing it. Because that was how it worked: from swimming in a calm, blue ocean, to sinking in cold darkness. His body may still run, his lungs operated with their usual efficiency, but his mind didn’t seem to appreciate the air filled with oxygen. It wanted to get lost. Sanji ignored it; he didn’t let it go.

He fought. Because he had learnt to fight himself, and he was able to stay, although there were times when the simple memory of that cold water bothered him for the rest of the night. Sanji helped himself, breathing, remembering, repeating the words they had said to him and he usually repeated himself, and believing them. It was tiring, even boring; a recipe he had made so many times he could cook with his eyes shut. And still, he didn’t always get the dish he wanted. He could eat it, sure, but it didn’t taste totally fine. So he kept on cooking, until it worked. Sometimes, he didn’t even notice that it worked, but that was fine. Some other times, he didn’t even need that damn recipe, and hell, that was great, it was fucking great to just follow his gut and enjoy a wonderful dish. But when he was just hanging there, in between that blue ocean and that darker place, not sure about what his next step would take him to, it was good to have something more. That was hope for him. He raised his gaze and obliged himself to look at the party, at his crew, at the warm and bright colors of the night. And he just reminded himself that he wanted to be there, as Zoro’s answer came, as simple and sincere as his own:

“Yeah. It is.”

Sanji kept staring, the cold started unraveling, lazy and slowly, fighting weakly against that warm feeling that tried to recover space, as the last piece came into place. As it had never been gone, shattered, lost in some dark place he didn’t want to ever return to. He let the warm feeling grow and expand, caressing his chest and finishing healing the remaining scars, visible or not, of the last battles they had been through. He lighted his cigarette, at last.

Beside him, Zoro took a swallow of his drink, then breathed. Sanji smiled and did the same. As they always did. He smoked, then breathed.

They both watched the smoke ascend, until it got lost in the star-filled sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick note: I find quite hard to explain how Sanji is feeling and how he deals with it (I think is really hard to explain how anyone's mind works), as it makes sense for me but I don't know if I've been able to explain it properly... I also didn't want to insist too much because after what I've seen in the manga it looks like Sanji is already fine with the crew, but... I wanted to make him sure. Like: yeah, definitely everything's fine now, with everyone, including myself. So here we are.


End file.
